Diary dates for 2018

January & February 2018 : No meeting

Wednesday 21 March 2018 : John Hudson – “My industrial life and local industries”
The industries I encountered in my working life during the second half of the twentieth century. My industrial life and local industries past and gone, such as The Kidlington Grain Silo, grass drying, straw rape, Tottenham pudding, flour mills gone and some still going and the trade as it was.

Wednesday 18 April 2018 : AGM + Bill Barksfield – “How to hire a coach in Romania”
The story of organising IA trips to more or less distant places and some of the things we saw when we got there. Bill has been going on IA trips in the UK and overseas for many years and organising them himself for the past seven. In this talk he will cover some of the unusual places he’s visited, some of the fascinating things he’s seen and tell a few tales about organising and running the events and the people who come on them.

Wednesday 23 May 2018 : Hugh Granger – “Barnes Wallis’s Amazing Career”
Barnes Wallis left school at 16, started life as a draughtsman, and taught himself engineering. He first worked on naval components, then a succession of airships, culminating in the R100, the finest ship of its generation. From there, he moved to aircraft design, with the Wellesley, the Wellington and The Victory, a gigantic strategic bomber that was never built. Then he branched out into bombs: the famous bouncing bomb, the Earthquake bomb, or Grandslam, which penetrated 135 feet of rock before it exploded, and the Tallboys, which wreaked havoc on German communications. After the war, he created swing wing planes, and several other advanced concepts. A remarkable man!

Wednesday 20 June 2018 : The Liz Woolley Annual Lecture – “Leisure and entertainment in Victorian and Edwardian Oxford … Habitual drunkards induced to spend their evenings in the library”
In the mid nineteenth century changes in employment practices and rising real wages meant that ordinary working people found themselves, usually for the first time, with leisure time and with spare money to spend on recreation. All sorts of establishments arose to fulfill the new demand for entertainment, many of them aimed at keeping people out of the pub. This talk describes where and how Oxford citizens spent their free time, and how the middle classes attempted to impose ‘rational recreation’ on their working-class.

Wednesday 18 July 2018 : Mike Hurst – “Tracks to the Trenches”
One hundred years ago the First World War was coming to an end. An affecting account of railway activities in the South of England and in France during the Great War. This will include the transport and care of the wounded back to Blighty with some focus on South Oxfordshire and West Berkshire. Railways permitted the mass movements of munitions, equipment and men – and the harrowing resulting casualties, many of whom were taken through the Thames Valley. The GWR pioneered ambulance trains.

Wednesday 15 August 2018 : Annual Dinner, venue tbc

Wednesday 19 September 2018 : Martin Buckland – Film Evening
A selection of films reflecting various aspects of industrial Archaeology.

Wednesday 17 October 2018 : Bruce Hedge – “Porcelain and the China clay industry”
What is porcelain and why did it cause such a furore during the 17th and18th centuries? Along with answering those questions, I shall be looking at what it meant for English pottery production and clay production in Cornwall.

Wednesday 21 November 2018 : Martin Buckland – “How many architects were named Gilbert Scott?”
An insight into this well-known family and the some of the buildings and objects they designed. There may be a few surprises along the way.

Wednesday 5 December 2018 : Christmas get-together

All events except the Annual Dinner take place at Denchworth Village Hall, Barn Close, Denchworth, Wantage, Oxfordshire OX12 0EZ starting at 19:30

Any requests for particular subjects or offers of a presentation for our 2019 meetings would be welcomed.

Membership is only £15 for single and £25 for double.

If you would like to come as a guest to any of these meetings (requested donation £3) you will be most welcome.

A CHOICE OF TOURS OF THE BAY 16.00 – 17.30 by bus, boat or walking and the opportunity to visit the Volvo Ocean Race Village

WOMEN AND THE SEA AND COMMUNITY HERITAGE PROJECTS 17.30 – 19.30
Free public lectures in the Wales Millennium Centre with the Wales Women’s Archive and in The Exchange Hotel with speakers from Denmark, England and Wales.

THURSDAY 31 MAY

A VISION FOR THE FUTURE OF CARDIFF BAY CONFERENCE

THE EXCHANGE HOTEL 09.00 – 15.30

Hosted by the Cardiff Harbour Authority – a chance to hear about the Council’s new vision for the Bay in the context of the story so far and to hear the views of experts from across Europe respond to this vision.